Friday, April 17, 2009

19:45 Burton Albion v Oxford United, Blue Square Premier, Setanta Sports 1Burton could clinch the Blue Square Premier title tonight if they can grab at least a draw against an Oxford side unbeaten in ten matches. Burton will be all too pleased if they can get everything over and done with tonight as they've been wobbling a bit of late, but Oxford are hell bent on a play-off place. Roy McFarland may have to wait a bit longer yet...

Saturday 18th April

11:00 Urawa Reds v Kyoto Sanga, J-League, British Eurosport 2Three wins out of five for both sides so far, placing them fifth and seventh respectively in the table. An interesting tie between two teams with higher ambitions for this season.

Chris O: Home win; Sp3ktor: Home win; Seb: Home win; Duffman: Draw.

12:30 Motherwell v St. Mirren, Scottish Premier League, Setanta Sports 1A relegation dogfight in the Scottish 'Clausura' which Mark McGhee's men are heavily backed to win, according to the bookies. We're inclined to agree.

12:45 Rochdale v Darlington, League Two, Sky Sports 1 / HD1With three games remaining in League Two, Rochdale are hovering just two points away from an automatic promotion place. Neither side are in particularly good form, but perhaps the proverbial carrot of playing in League One will focus the minds of Keith Hill's men more than their opponents.

17:15 Arsenal v Chelsea, FA Cup Semi-Final, Setanta Sports 1The Gunners play The Blues for the first time at the new Wembley Stadium, glowing profusely from their Champions League wins this week. While Arsene Wenger's been moaning about the new Wembley pitch being rubbish, Florent Malouda's been expressing a child-like wonderment at having the chance to play on it, which is exactly as it should be. John Terry's back for Chelsea, so expect him to shore up the defence rather more than we saw on Tuesday.

Chris O: Chelsea; Sp3ktor: Chelsea; Seb: Arsenal; Duffman: Arsenal.

19:00 Getafe v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports 2The first part of Sky Sports' four-course tapas selection sees La Liga leaders Barcelona trying to keep Real at arms length against The Dark Blues of Getafe (who can expect to be in the drop zone before you can say 'relegado'.

21:00 Recreativo v Real Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 2On paper, the home side should get massacred but Real only managed a 1-0 win back at the Bernabeu in November. Something similar may ensue tonight, but the overall outcome will be much the same, we fear.

Sunday 19th April

13:30 Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United, Premier League, Sky Sports 1 / HD1A 2-1 win's in the offing today for someone. Spurs won by that score in the League Cup back in September while The Magpies won 2-1 against their rivals in the Prem just before Christmas. If anything, Spurs should go 2-1 up in the series (ahem) after this one.

14:00 Hibernian v Rangers, Scottish Premier League, Setanta Sports 1Ferguson and McGregor are back for The Gers and not a moment too soon with only a point separating them and Celtic at the top of the Scots Prem. Hibs could go clear of Aberdeen on points if they can get their first win over Rangers since October 2007.

15:15 St. Johnstone v Queen of the South, Scottish First Division, BBC ALBAIf you're prepared to forego the language barrier, here's a chance to see St Johnstone take a big step towards the championship title in Div 1.

16:00 Manchester United v Everton, FA Cup Semi-final, ITV1 / ITV HD / Setanta Sports 2Expect the Everton supporters to greet Wayne Rooney with a cheery wave and a gentlemanly 'Bravo!' as he takes to the Wembley pitch in the scarlet shirt of Man United. More likely, perhaps, is an Everton win, but not by much.

18:00 Valencia v Sevilla, La Liga, Sky Sports 1Though this is a match-up of the teams in fourth and third respectively, Sevilla are a good eight points clear of their rivals and, barring a collapse of Hull City proportions, should be assured of the last Champions League place for 2009/10. An intriguing tie and one that Valencia must win if they're to leapfrog their opponents before the season's out.

Chris O: Draw; Sp3ktor: Home win; Seb: Away win; Duffman: Draw.

20:00 Real Betis v Sporting Gijon, La Liga, Sky Sports 1Hee-Hon are just one place above the relegation zone but can overtake Betis in 13th with a win today. Definitely 'squeaky bum time' in the bottom half of La Liga for all concerned.

20:00 Bordeaux v Lyon, Ligue 1, Setanta Sports 2'Le grand un' as far as this week's listings are concerned. As we've already discussed verbally, Lyon are finally off the top of Ligue 1 and Bordeaux are waiting to push them down to third if they can get all three points today. Actually, Bordeaux could go top ahead of Marseille if they win this match, so grab a baguette and a can of Kronenberg 1664 and treat yourself to a cagey encounter between these two French heavyweights.